Research | Current

I am a member of the Joint Graduate School for Biodiversity and Biosecurity and am employed by both Landcare Research and the University of Auckland. My role at the University of Auckland mainly involves supervising post-graduate students and at Landcare Research I lead a palaeoecological team. My particular research interests are in:

reconstructing past diets of the introduced Pacific rat (kiore) through analysis of coprolites.

defining pre-human ecological states to inform restoration and conservation.

reconstructing high-resolution (temporal and spatial) records of human impacts on the flora and fauna of New Zealand to provide a context for understanding current and future rates of change and extinctions.

establishing the timing of initial human and commensal arrival in New Zealand and the East Polynesian region.

examining the ecosystem services and herbivory of extinct birds and introduced mammals in New Zealand forest ecosystems.

My research is based on the analyses of sediments (mainly pollen, charcoal, dung fungi, and plant macrofossils) collected from bogs, swamps, lakes, organic soils and caves, and from coprolites (preserved droppings). I have study sites spanning from islands in the Pacific, right down to the subantarctic Campbell, Auckland and Snares Islands.

I welcome enquiries from students about potential research projects linked to any of the above themes, especially if you want to spend some time working in our new palaeoecology and ancient DNA laboratory at Landcare Research Lincoln where I am based.